Knitting accessory



Sept- 5, 1939-A l l. v. THULIN 2,172,074

KNITTING ACCESSORY Filed March 25, 1938 Patented Sept. 5, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT omer.

5 Claims.

My invention relates to a new and useful knitting accessory employed in connection with the operations of knitting hand made articles from plain, knobby and irregular yarn or other strand of suitable material and combinations thereof` and may be used to advantage in connection with hand crocheting utilizing thread or other desirable material strand.

An object of the invention is to provide a device for application to a persons finger for imparting a needle engaging motion to the material strand without interference to the use of the hands for gripping the needles which device is simple in construction and inexpensive in the cost of manufacture While embodying all of the elements necessary to a practical device of this character.

Another object of this invention is to provide a split bendable ring so that it may be adjusted to give the necessary and desirable holding tension on a linger to prevent wobbling while in use and also to permit it to be adjusted for placement o-n different sizes of fingers.

Another object of the invention is to furnish the ring, preferably at the top thereof, with an arm or extension carrying a feed loop or eye to hold and guide the material strand for passing orwhipping said strand over a needle by the rotary motion imparted to the arm.

Another object of my invention is to construct the device With a rear feed or guide coil which with the feed loop assists in maintaining the material strand in aV straight line along the arm.

Another object of the invention is to provide the device with' a resilient tension clipv anchored on the ring said clip including a head project- -ing beyond the outer edge of the ring so as to overlap the arm which may be bent relative to the clip for regulating the tension action. The headr is channeledl longitudinally or in the direction of the axes of the ring 'and arm guide running parallel to the direction of travel of the material strand. Said head also has turned up lips at both ends to form oppositely disposed-wide mouths for the entrance of knobs, knots or other protuberances on the material strand. A further object of the invention is to Vconstruct a knitting accessory consisting of la split bendable ring having a bendable arm or extension projecting therefrom and carrying a feed loop or eye to permit lateral insertion of a material strand, the appliance also having a feed or guide coil into which the material strand may be wound and a resilient tension clip interposed between the feed or guide coil .and the feed loop, which clip is anchored on the ring and projects over the varm whereby the bending of said arm regulates the amount of tension exerted by the clip and said clip being so mounted as to permitlateral engagement of the material strand therewith.

A still further and very essential object of the present invention is to so construct and arrange the several elements of the apparatus that it can be threaded and Unthreaded without severing the material strand, postponing the above actions until the material has been completely used or pulling a strand of considerable length through the feed and guiding parts of the device.

With the above and other objects in View this invention consists of the details of construction and combination of elements hereinafter set forth and then designated by the claims.

In order that those skilled in the art to which this invention appertains may understand how to make and use the same I will describe its construction referring by numerals to the accompanying drawing forming a part hereof, in Which:-

Fig. 1 is a view of a pair of hands holding needles as a piece of work is knitted, illustrating the manner of using the knitting accessory.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the knitting accessory showing in dotted line how the arm may be bentfor varying the pressure of the tension clip.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view thereof.

Fig. 4 is a section on` the line 4--4 of Fig. 2.

Fig.Y 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is an inner or rear end or edge view of the ring element of the device with the vguide or feedcoil.`

In vcarrying out my invention as herein embodied I0 represents a split ring of relatively stiff bendable material so that itrmay be opened or closed to adjust it vto the size of a persons finger and regulate the t to prevent wobbling while the device is in use. Projecting from one edge at the top of the ring is an arm or extension i of bendable material and this arm may be .an integral part of said ring.

Beyond the outer or free end of the arm II is a feed loop or eye I2 which consists of one and one-half coils or windings of wire and from which extend a supporting leg I3 fixed to the arm, preferably along one edge, and a free arm I4 having an inturned toe I5 overlyingthe supporting leg an appreciable distance back of the loop or eye. This arrangement of feed loop or eye permits the insertion of a material strand between two adjacent strands or windings of the coil .and then wound or screwed into the central opening of the loop or eye as will be readily understood. The loop or eye I2 is in a plane parallel to that of the arm, and a guide coil i6 at right angles to the feed loop I24 is mounted on the ring III adjacent the edge opposite the arm. Said guide coil allows'the material strand to be wound through thev coil windings after the manner of a screw for entering said material strand into or removving'it from the central opening of the coil.

I Between the feed loop or eye I2 and the guide coil I B is'a, tension clipl I'I including a head I8 and a neck I 9 said head being offset to one side of neck as plainly shown in Fig. 3. This tension clip I'I is mounted on the ring by means of the neck and the free end of the head projects a short distance beyond the adjacent edge of the ring in overlapping relation to the arm II. The tension clip is produced from suitable spring material in order to urge it towards the ring and to return to its normal position when deflected. This provides the desired resiliency but to obtain a suitable tension on material strands of varying thicknesses the arm may be bent relative to the clip head which increase or decrease the tension action.

The head I 8 of the clip has a channel 2D, Fig. 4, in its under face running longitudinally of said head or in the direction of the travel of the material strand. Both ends of the head are turned up to produce lips 2| and 22 and provide large mouths for the easy entrance of knots, knobs or other protuberances on the material strand into the channel or beneath the tension clip from either direction. At the side of the tension clip head I8 opposite the neck is an unobstructed passage 23 through which a material strand may be laterally inserted beneath said tension clip head thus eliminating the necessity of threading the material strand lengthwise.

Assuming that some work has been done on a knitted article and there still is 'considerable material from which the article is being knitted left and it becomes necessary or desirable to thread the accessory then the following general directions should be followed. Hold the device in the left hand with the arm Il pointed towards the work and overlying the material strand, then carry strand crosswise over the arm and under the leg I and its toe l5 and pull into opening or eye of the feed loop I2, next carry the strand rearward and insert it laterally under the head .of the tension clip which will draw the strand under the toe I5, and nally said strand is carried back under the guide coil I6 and wound into said coil, preferably by a right hand o1' clockwise motion so that said strand is screwed into the central opening of the coil from the inner end towards the outer end. To unthread the device or remove it from the material strand the above operations are reversed.

With the device threaded as above outlined it is placed upon the index finger of the right hand so that the feed loop I2 will be in proximity to the knitting operations and as a stitch is picked off one needle a portion of the material strand is looped about the pointed end of the picking needle, as indicated by the arrow in Fig. l, through a generally rotary motion imparted to the feed loop I2 by the in and out and to and fro movements of said index finger. The particular location and arrangement of the feed loop I2 and because of the round cross sectional shape of the wire from which it is made the material strand will be laid down properly and without any chance of knots, knobs or other protuberances catching on sharp or angular edges that might prevent movement of the strand, break or otherwise damage the same. Due to the tension clip extending from its anchorage point in the direction of movement of the material strand through the device a smooth but rm pressure is applied to material strand and such action cannot be obtained with a tension device situated crosswise of the direction of movement of the material strand. The unique formation and disposition of the tension clip permits use of the accessory in connection with knobby and irregular yarns.

Because of the fact that the accessory may be threaded and unthreaded at any time without severing the material strand or passing such strand endwise through encircling means said accessory may be removed and replaced whenever desired thereby enabling the knitter to transfer the device from one piece of work to another; to temporarily remove it, as when discontinuing operations for some reason; to readily and quickly apply it to other work; and to perform these acts for any other reason.

The device is also adapted for use as a thread tension and guide in connection with the operations of crocheting in which instance thefmger supporting the accessory is not especially moved about but is merely retained in a position that will cause thread toassunie a position in prox imity to needle while the latter is in use.

Of course I do not want to be limited to the exact details of construction herein shown and described as these may be varied within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and useful is:

1. AA knitting accessory comprising a ring to be slipped on a persons finger, an arm projecting laterally from said ring and extending beyond the end of the persons finger in a plane substantiall,r parallel thereto while in use, a feed loop on the outer end of said arm and formed from a coil of wire whereby a material strand may be laterally wound into the loop, a guide coil on said ring into which said material strand may be laterallywound, and a tension clip located between said feed loop and guide coil and anchored on said ring, said clip having an unobstructed passageway thereto at one side to permit lateral insertion of said strand beneath said clip.

2. The structure in claim l wherein upturned lips are provided at both ends of the tension clip to permit unhindered passage of the material strand with knots, knobs and other protuberances under said tension clip.

3. The structure in claim l wherein the tension clip has a channel running longitudinally in the underside thereof.

4. A knitting accessory comprising a split finger ring of bendable material whereby it may be adjusted to various sizes, a bendable arm projecting from one edge at the top thereof, a feed loop consisting of a coil and two legs and a toe on one of said legs, the leg without a toe being xed to the arm adjacent one edge thereof with the coil beyond the free end of the arm and the other leg being free whereby a material strand may be passed beneath the other leg and laterally wound into the coil, and. a tension clip consisting of a neck anchored to the ring and a head offset to one side of said neck with a portion of said head overlapping the arm and having an unobstructed passageway thereto at the side opposite the neck to'permit'lateral insertion of said strand beneath the Vci channelled longitudinally on the underside and further provided with a lip at each end to allow unhindered passage of protuberances on the material strand.

5. The structure in claim in combination with a guide coil on the ring into which coil tle strand may be wound.

, IVAR V. THULIN. 

